Chapter 33: Puppet show (1)

The face that first came into sight was Heeyun, followed by Namgun.

“Y-you’re awake.”

Heeyun smiled at Dohyuk.

“…”

Dohyuk then realized he was being held upright in his sleeping bag, and he was being carried by someone. The reason why he took some time to realize it was because it was so comfortable.

Kyuho, the one who was carrying Dohyuk, exclaimed, “Oh, you’re awake!”

“…Put me down.”

“You were deep asleep, so I just carried you.”

“…”

Kyuho was full of sweat. It seemed that he had put in a lot of effort to make sure Dohyuk was comfortable.

“We’re here now,” Kyuho declared as he put Dohyuk down. The area was filled with ruins. The buildings that were still standing were so tall that they weren’t completely covered by the sand and on the side was a panel that stated where they were.

-Gangnam Station

“LOOK!” Kyuho pointed as he shouted. There was a tall wall of sand, covering a city that was not visible from the outside. Below, there were a few gates that acted as entrances.

“We can take any gate.”

As they walked about 2 kilometers to the gate, Kyuho explained the rules of the city. Namgun had done so before, but Kyuho was now being more detailed.

“There’re more like this.”

There were other cities than Katla. They were all from the same world. This was the desert dimension of Bermura.

“It’s a world that faced the same fate as our Earth. Aruga is their god and ruler now.”

Just like the angels, the inhabitants of the Bermura Desert were brought to this world to give trials to the humans.

“We can live normally in that city. Monsters that come out in the day can’t enter that place.”

And that wasn’t it. Bermuran people that lived within the cities gave missions that would reward coins and ‘Influence Points’ that people could use to gain city territory.

“I heard it’s not free to get in.”

“Yeah.”

There were two ways – pay a certain amount of coins per day, or have faith in ‘Aruga’ and be a member of the city.

“The latter seems like a trap.”

Dohyuk did not have any religion yet, but he also didn’t want to have one. The Goddess of Fire he met, for example, was hidden within the fall to make it hard to even serve her. But, to serve a god to not waste any coins? It sounded like a trap.

“Yeah. Aruga is a weak bastard,” Kyuho answered.

“He’s the lowest of the gods. When two gods of equal strength fight, it’s the god’s power that is the deciding factor. But Aruga isn’t much help in that case.”

Besides, with the start of the next main trial, the Bermurans would be removed from Earth. That would result in the loss of the only merit Aruga had.

“You can’t give up the religion you choose. I mean, you can, but the gods will keep on coming to retaliate against you if you do.”

Kyuho then looked down at his body.

“…So you’re amazing in that regard. How did you do it? Eudevich’s really strong, but you kicked him out!”

“…I don’t know.”

He was telling the truth.

As they talked, they reached the gate and Dohyuk and Heeyun were shocked. There were bodies in front of them, about 20, all with holes in their bodies.

“Oh, don’t mind them. They were stupid,” Kyuho scoffed.

“HALT!”

There was a big man on the city wall. He had a turban on his head and linen wraps all over his body, which was then covered by leather armor. He was holding a spear in one hand and a sickle in another. The sickle was connected to a device on his waist. He firmly positioned the sickle on the city wall.

The man jumped down. He fell quickly, but was instantly slowed down by the device before he landed.

“He’s the gatekeeper here,” Kyuho whispered. Dohyuk then turned to Heeyun.

“How many coins do you have?”

“I have about 3000.”

Dohyuk nodded. He didn’t have many coins… but if he was lacking, he would just walk out and kill some worms.

Dohyuk then turned to Namgun.

“I won’t help you even if you don’t have enough. Our contract is done since we are here.”

“D-don’t worry about the coins. But… just let me tag along with you even when we’re inside.”

Before Namgun could respond, the man spoke.

“Weaklings just keep on coming.”

He took off his turban, showing his dark, scarred skin. Dohyuk felt it right away.

‘This one too.’

He had bloodlust in him.

“No matter. It’s our duty to teach you to be like us in this world.”

He sighed and asked, “Choose. Do you wish to serve the Great God Aruga and enter this city as his people, or pay the price to stay within the city?”

“I’ll pay the price!” Namgun shouted.

“You just need a day’s worth of coins for now right? If we get in, there are enough events to cover the used…”

“You don’t have enough.”

“What?” Namgun was shocked at the gatekeeper’s statement.

“No way. I have more than 500…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but 500?”

The gatekeeper scoffed and Kyuho whispered to Dohyuk, “The price goes down as more people gain points within the city.”

“Then…”

“I think he only knows the price of the city when he visited in the past.”

Without people gaining points within the city, it would be much more expensive.

“You need 5000 coins to stay.”

The gatekeeper spoke firmly. Kyuho raised his hand, “Then, let us three in.”

“Hey.”

Dohyuk looked at Kyuho as he didn’t have 5000 coins. But Kyuho smiled.

“It’s okay, I have money.”

“What?”

“15000? That’s easy.”

“…?!”

Dohyuk was surprised, but Kyuho threw a thumbs up and winked.

“You should do this much if you’re a second timer.”

“Thank you.”

Heeyun bowed without hesitation.

“I’ll pay you back.”

“Whatever.”

Namgun became frustrated.

“N-no way! 5000 coins?! Hey, the sun’s going to come up soon!”

“I don’t care.” The gatekeeper added, “If you want, serve our God, Aruga. Kneel before our Great God.”

“Like hell I would!!”

“…What?”

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